A typical land-based drilling rig has a rig floor that is elevated from the ground level. In order to “make-up” the drill pipe, segments of the drill pipe (“joints”) must be delivered from the ground level to the rig floor. In the conventional system for delivering the joints from the ground level to the rig floor, joints are delivered individually using a catwalk or slide with an inclined delivery platform. Once delivered to the rig floor, workers align each joint vertically over the top end of the drill pipe and use manual tools such as clamps and rotary wrenches, or an iron roughneck machine, to connect the joint to the drill pipe using threaded end connections.
One limitation of the conventional system is that the length of the delivery platform is typically suited for delivering only one joint having a standard length of about 28 to 32 feet (8.5 to 9.8 meters) (commonly referred to as a “Range #2 tubular”) or 44 feet to 48 feet (13.4 to 14.6 meters) (commonly referred to as a “Range #3 tubular”). Another limitation is that each joint that is delivered to the rig floor must be individually connected to the drill pipe at the rig floor by roughnecking operations. As the number of joints increases, so too does the number of delivery cycles required of the catwalk (thus increasing the time required to makeup the drill string) and the number of roughnecking operations (thus increasing the risk of making a “bad joint” at the rig floor and the risk of personal injury to workers).
Accordingly there is a need for a system and a method for delivering a tubular pipe segment comprising multiple joints from a ground level to an elevated rig floor.